Bosses have a surprisingly lenient attitude to use of the internet at work a new survey has found.

A study from business internet service provider Star suggests that some employers are actively encouraging the use of the net for leisure activities.

Recent headlines about firms sacking employees for inappropriate use of the net have painted a different picture but a third of employers actually promote non-work net usage the survey found.

"Many employers feel that strict policing of internet usage is not conducive to a positive working environment," said Founder of Star Internet Jos White.

E-mail embarrassments

Bosses and the net

One in three encourage non-work use of net Nearly half do not monitor what employees are doing online One in five could not survivie without daily access to e-mail

Despite fears that employers are turning into office-based Big Brothers, monitoring their staff use of e-mail and the internet, nearly half of the firms surveyed confessed that they had no idea what their employees were up to online.

More and more firms however are tightening policies on e-mail and net usage in an attempt to protect their image.

High profile recent cases of e-mail embarrassments include an employee of Credit Lyonnaise who e-mailed an account of his sexual exploit to friends which quickly went global and led to an internal investigation.

City law firm Norton Rose was at the centre of perhaps the most famous e-mail case in 2000 when the notorious Claire Swire e-mail detailed the sexual predilections of one of its employees.

The majority of employees that have been sacked for inappropriate use of the net or e-mail at work have downloaded porn or passed on pornographic e-mails.